Accidents
Rare de Havilland Venom Destroyed, Pilot Killed
Was Participating in Pre-Oshkosh Clinic

One of less than a half dozen airworthy de Havilland DH 112 Venoms in the world was destroyed when it crashed and burned shortly after takeoff Friday afternoon. The 1957 military jet crashed into a Wisconsin dairy barn. Pilot Martin Tibbitts, 50, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the aircraft’s sole occupant, was killed, two workers in the barn were seriously injured, and approximately 50 cattle perished. The aircraft, N747J, registered to the World Heritage Air Museum in Harper Woods, Michigan, was participating in the annual pre-Oshkosh vintage aircraft formation flying clinic at the Aviation Heritage Center at the Sheboygan County Airport (SBY) in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. The Center stood down operations on Saturday following the crash but planned to resume them on Sunday. 


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